Run Aways Unite
by Books 'n' Arrows
Summary: Fang lives on the streets. Max and her friend Iggy run away and join him, forming the Flock, a gang. Ari and new kid Dylan also run away and join the Flock. Angel and Gazzy go to a foster home with an abusive mother, mother of Nudge. Wings later in story
1. Chapter 1

**Okay, so if you're giving this story a chance, thank you! I know, I know, the summary was completely awful! Dang, I really need to work on those...**

**Alright, so right now I have this strange substance on my fingers. It's green and slimy, and it smells like holly or evergreen or something. I have absolutely NO IDEA what it is, by the way… I'm kinda scared to get it on the keyboard, so I guess I gotta chicken-peck now. Grreeeaaaat.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything but the plot. Deal with it.**

**Fang POV**

I was walking down the sidewalk with my hands in my pockets. It was the dark, backside of town, the area in movies with dim streetlamps and gangs and tons of alleys. Yeah, that kind of area. I sleep in one of those alleys, under a dumpster. I found an old mattress (one that wasn't all moldy and smelly, mind you) and had to hide it in a place where it wouldn't be stolen. Unfortunately that was the only hiding spot that the mattress could fit in. I don't sleep there much anyway, only lately when I've been forced to. I prefer roofs over dumpsters any day, even in rain, but 2 weeks ago a cop found me. He's been searching for me on the roofs and streets ever since. I've been pretty careful not to be spotted, but I've had a few close calls.

I turned a corner and came to a stop in front of my dumpster. Sighing, I sat down and leaned my back the hunk of rusted metal. I looked up at the stars that I'd seen so many times before. They never got old. I looked down at my feet, or rather, my beat-up-taped-together-sorry-excuse for shoes. That's when I noticed a puddle of water from the recent rainstorm by my feet. I slowly leaned forward, daring myself to view my reflection. It had been a while since I'd last looked at myself. I didn't like what I saw, even though I could barely see myself in the poor light.

My hair was long. As in, knee-length long. It was also extremely oily from not being washed since… the last rain. I grabbed the black hair band I had found on the street and pulled my hair into a ponytail. It was much more manageable that way. My black eyes were still framed by long, thick black eyelashes, that much hadn't changed, but I had big, dark bags under my eyes. My normally olive skin tone was a bit paler than usual, but it could have just been the moonlight. My clothes were caked with gunk (basically your average mixture of blood, dirt, grease, and other stuff you find on the streets). My clothes consisted of a black t-shirt and black jeans. I'm not emo, but when you hide in dark streets, you realize pretty quickly that colors like neon orange don't blend in very well. In fact, they're bound to get you killed. DARK clothes help you blend in DARK areas. Anyway, I preferred the black over anything else. What confused me though, was the fact that my teeth were still completely white. No chips, no cracks, none missing, no stains, no cavities, no stains, no extra food, still perfect.

I shut my mouth and scowled at my reflection. I smelled horrid, I looked like crap, but I still had perfect teeth. How does that work?

I rolled my eyes. "Great. Now I sound self-absorbed," I murmured to myself quietly. Then my scowl deepened. "And now I'm talking to myself. Well yippee doo da day."

I struck the puddle with my hand, messing up the image that was shown. I stood up and started pacing. It was a habit of mine that had yet to brake. I do it when I have nothing to do. The light on the street directly outside the alley flickered, and then shut off.

"Wonderful. Now I have absolutely no light! _Angel_, I can't even see my hands!" I grumbled to myself. **(A/N: In this story, when angel is in italics, they're using it in place of a swear word. Or something along those lines. If it's not italicized then it's the character Angel, okay? Sorry if it's confusing…)**

Off in the distance I heard gunshots. Three of them, to be exact. Then a police siren started. Now, normally I would just ignore it, seeing as it's a part of life for me now, but I heard the siren getting louder. The cop was headed this way. I cocked my head to listen better. The car should pass by in about 30 seconds max. But I heard something else. Footsteps, two pairs of them, running this way. I quickly crossed back to my dumpster and rolled underneath, onto my mattress. Both the footsteps and the siren came closer. I heard one set of steps falter outside my alley, then turn in. Snap decision, I guess. The first person ran and ducked behind my dumpster. The second person followed. I silently started counting down.

_10…9…8…7…6…5…4…3…2…1…_

The car rolled by slowly, not even bothering to run its' sirens anymore, just its' lights. The cop inside knew it was a lost cause to search for someone around 1 am in this part of the city, so they didn't even bother stopping to do a thorough search. After the patrol car had gone, I heard the two runner's breath out a sigh. One was slightly panting still. I stayed still, curious about why they were here, in _my_ alley. Obviously they were new around here, or else they wouldn't have dared to step foot in here.

"Is it safe?" the second person asked. A boy.

The other person must have started looking around because I heard someone rummaging through the junk in the dumpster and around it. The person walked away, satisfied, footsteps echoing in the silence. "All clear." _Not._ "Think it was him who called the cops?" the first person wondered out loud. Female.

The boy chuckled. "Really? Even after being shot? Nah. That guy's too much of a wimp. Probably be scared to death, worried we'd come back and make sure he's dead."

They both laughed nervously. I was now officially curious. They shot someone? Who, and why? I didn't even know who these people were! And that's saying something, because unless I'm in trauma or whatever, I never forget a person. Ever.

The girl sighed. "Yeah, I guess you're right."

Curiosity got the better of me. I had to know who these people were! I rolled out from under the dumpster. They couldn't see me, that much I knew, but I noticed a movement from the shadows. My eyes, already adjusted to the lack of light, could easily pinpoint where the movement was and found the faint outline of two bodies; both crouched by the back wall.

I heard someone suck in a breath, but the guy cut her off. "Hold up a sec, Max. We've got company."

**And that's a wrap! Mmm, now I'm hungry... Anyway, this is chapter 1. Like it? Hate it? Tell me! Suggestions or requests for characters or plot or a soda you want someone to drink or anything I might be able to use, tell me! PLEASE? **Does Bambi eyes****


	2. Chapter 2

**So… I got 2 reviews! Yay! It's actually better than I thought.**

**Ash: Oh yeah, there's definitely gonna be some fax in this story. I'm a total sucker for fax! In fact, I just changed my pen name from x3lovefangx3. Look forward to it, but it's not gonna show up immediately.**

**BloodyBurningAshes: First off, LOVE the name! Secondly, no, I did not try to taste the unknown substance. I found out what it was, though! It was a candle… I think. I don't remember any green candles in my house, but my mom told me it was a candle. I chose to believe her cause I don't have a better idea. Thirdly, the whole **_**Angel **_**thing is from a different series, Mortal Instruments. Finally, I will try to update at least once a week.**

**HAPPY 4****TH**** OF JULY! Well, that was yesterday, but you know what I mean.**

**Disclaimer: Ugh, I hate these. Why do you always have to put them in? I mean, once is enough. I already feel bad as it is! **Sigh** Oh well. I don't own the characters, only the plot.**

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**Max POV**

When I woke up the next morning, I looked at my new… ally, I guess is what you would call him. He was lying on his back, hands behind his head. He looked completely at peace, totally in his element. He seemed really familiar somehow, as if I've known him before. I just don't know from where. I studied him closer. Black clothes, long black hair, olive skin. A little stubble from a 5 o'clock shadow. Definitely muscular, from what I learned from our fight last night, but it wasn't over done. He was toned, not on the over muscular side that looked like he was on steroids. He had a bruise on his arm, right beneath the sleeve of his shirt. It wasn't from me either. I never got to hit him. 2 seconds into the fight I was knocked out.

'I _really_ have to learn to fight if I want to survive here,' I thought to myself, then shook my head. Focus! Back to my job.

I bit my lip. I guess you could say he was… good looking. Well, hot. Extremely hot. As much as I hated to admit it, he looked good for a guy living under a dumpster. Then it came to me, a memory I had long since forgotten.

_Flashback_

_I was walking on a path that went through the woods. The woods were surrounded by houses from four different developments. Each area had a path that cut through the woods until it reached the 4-way. From there you could go to any of the other neighborhoods. The path I was on had a fork: one way leading to the village of houses, the other leading to a park._

_My friend James was walking next to me. Both of us were sweating from a long day at the park in the burning hot sun._

_We were walking in silence, headed home (we were next door neighbors) when we heard a set of pounding footsteps from up ahead of us. It wasn't unusual to run into joggers, so we just ignored it. As we came around a bend, the footsteps got louder. The 4-way was in sight, about 20 feet away from where we stood with at least 20 feet of path visible in the other directions as well._

_James and I slowed down a bit. A boy dressed in all black ran up the path to our right. When he saw us, we were around 10 feet away from each other. He stopped and stared at us. James and I stopped too._

_The boy was tan, with black hair and dark eyes. He had a black long sleeve shirt on with black sweatpants and black sneakers. My jaw threatened to drop. It was 98 degrees out here! How could he not have a heat stroke?_

_He was panting slightly, his mouth parted just a bit._

"_Are you alright?" James called out in concern. His mother was a nurse._

_The boy's eyes widened slightly, as if shocked that we would talk to him. I took a step toward him to see if I could help, but a bark stopped me. A little black Scottie ran up from behind the kid and growled at us._

"_Total, hush!" the guy hissed quietly, trying not to let us hear him talk but not succeeding. Then he promptly turned to his right and ran off, the little dog at his heels._

_And you know what I did?_

_I followed them._

_Why?_

_Because, when you see a boy that looks like an 8-year-old (and you're an 8-year-old too) with a black eye, a bleeding cut on his forehead, a split lip, and hands that are dripping blood, running in the woods like his life depended on it, you tend to want to see if he's alright._

_So I chased the guy before he ran out of sight. It was the way to my house anyway. James followed me without a question: he knew what I was doing and wanted to help._

_We followed him until he ducked through a backyard and jumped the fence. The fence didn't slow us down much, but by the time we landed on the other side, all we saw was an empty road stretched out before us._

_The boy and his dog were nowhere to be seen._

_End Flashback_

A couple days after that there were missing child posters around the neighborhood. The kid's name was Nicholas Wings.

I personally thought that was a pretty cool last name, but James disagrees.

I glanced back at dumpster kid. Yeah, I would mistake olive skin for tan when I was 8. There was an 86% chance that kid was Nicholas. **(A/N: Yeah… I just made up that percentage…)**

I looked around to see if I had missed a dog, but there wasn't one. When I looked back at Nicholas, his eyes were open, staring at the sky. Black eyes…

"So…," I started, wanting to fill the silence. I knew it was him, Nicholas Wings, the same guy from the woods all those years ago.

Nicholas' dark eyes flicked over to me. Other than raise an eyebrow, he didn't move.

I bit my lip, thinking of what to say. I looked at his eyes and asked "Where's Total?"

His eyes widened slightly, and some emotion slipped through his emotionless mask: shock, sadness, regret. Then he narrowed his eyes and the mask was back, blocking every emotion but suspicion. After a moment of internal debate, he finally answered with a simple "Don't know."

Still looking him in the eye, I questioned him even more. "Why don't you know where he is?"

Nicholas shrugged. Jeez, this guy doesn't talk much. I sighed. "Did you lose him?" A head shake. "Did he run away?"

"Nope," Nicholas told me, popping the "p".

"Then what happened to him?"

His mask was fully back now, so I couldn't tell how he felt when he finally told me what happened to Total.

"I ate him."

…_WHAT?_

So emotionlessly, so nonchalant. It took me a moment to comprehend what he had said. When I understood, my mouth opened in surprise. We still hadn't broken eye contact, so I knew he could read every emotion going through my head. He seemed to be waiting for the final result, which, shockingly, turned out to be understanding. I suddenly noted that this boy loved that dog, whether he would admit it or not. He wouldn't eat Total if he wasn't desperate. I mean, an 8-year-old, living on the streets. Must have been a tough life, you know?

And he completely regretted ever doing it.

I couldn't look at him anymore. I turned my attention to my suddenly interesting hands that were sitting in my lap.

"I'm…," I took a deep breath. "I'm sorry, Nicholas."

His eyes flashed angrily. I barely had enough time to register he was mad before I found myself flat on my back, pinned on the ground beneath him with one hand holding my wrists (Note to self: Don't make him mad ever again. Also, DANG he has big hands!) and the other at my throat. His glared at me murderously.

I felt my eyes widen into saucers.

He leaned closer so his face was, say, 2 inches away from my face. Then he softly growled "_Don't_ call me that. Ever. Again."

I was scared speechless. I just watched dumbly and silently as he released his hold on my neck and backed away. He stood up and turned around. As I regained my senses and sat up, he started to climb up the wall above the dumpster. After I watched his leg swing over the gutter and onto the roof, I shook my head.

'Snap out of it!' I thought, angry at myself. I looked for James.

James rolled out from the mattress under the dumpster and blinked sleepily in my direction. He yawned and said "Morning."

I just looked at him blankly. He understood that look. Something had happened that I didn't like.

"Uh oh. What did I miss?" He scanned the area, more awake now. "Hey, where's that other guy?"

I thought I heard a snort from somewhere, but no one else was here except James and me. I just shook my head. "I think I just pissed off the one guy who could help us out."

He shrugged and stood up. "Oh well. We'll deal with that later. Right now, I'm starving. Let's find us some breakfast!" He came over and held out a hand to me. I gave him a small smile before I took it and stood up.

"Thanks," I said quietly.

"Don't mention it," James told me.

As we started walking away, I gave one last glance at the wall Nicholas had scaled. I mean… My mind blanked. What does he go by if he doesn't want to be called Nicholas? He can't be "Dumpster Dude" forever.

Note to self: Learn Dumpster Dude's name. And learn to climb walls.

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**Alright, I'm sorry I kind of skipped a scene. I didn't really know how to write it, so I just took it out. Max pretty much found Fang and tried to hurt him because she believed he was a threat. After he beat her in a fist fight, she decided she it would be better to befriend him instead of making him an enemy.**

**Oh, and I'm sorry to all Total lovers out there. I didn't know how to fit him into the story, so I sort of killed him off. They could get a new dog, if you want. He could be a stray or come with Angel or something.**

**I'm thinking of adding a new character, but I want readers to decide who. Tell me a name, age, description, likes, dislikes, attitude, and whatever you think necessary. Please?**


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